Postdoctoral position to Quantum AI Project

The Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, is seeking applications for one postdoc position. The position is part of the Quantum AI Project.

The project and the position

Quantum Artificial Intelligence.

Why does it matter?

This two-year postdoctoral position focusses upon why Quantum AI might matter within the context of the legal, regulatory, and governance setting. The purpose of the project is to explore, map, and structure the potential problem-space. As such, it will be a problem-finding project (in contradistinction to the more orthodox problem-solving orientation). In other words, this postdoctoral project does not seek to produce concrete answers or to advance policy proposals in the face of Quantum AI and the potential challenges that it may raise or reveal. Instead, we seek to develop a set of better questions.

As this postdoctoral project is situated within the CHANSE-funded Q-Shift consortium (https://www.quantumstateofworld.com/), which emphases the impact of Quantum AI to human decision-making processes, this postdoctoral project is envisaged to explore upstream and downstream issues to the more concrete questions around the decision-making process itself. For the upstream issues, this could include how Quantum AI shifts the sociotechnical landscape: when it comes to the designing the choice architecture; altering emotional states; activating psychological biases; structuring sensory and informational input; mediating sensation and perception; and distorting our sense of reality. For the downstream issues, potential projects might explore how the process of learning to live with Quantum AI might: alter our axiology; recalibrate our priorities and preferences, and reframe the way that risks are perceived, understood, and addressed.

That said, since this is a problem-finding project, there is wide latitude for defining both the project and its approach (as well as all other parts of the project). As such, applicants are invited to submit a synopsis of how they would apply the problem-finding approach to Quantum AI, including areas of emphasis and what the applicant would bring to both the project and the Q-Shift consortium. Due to the problem-finding nature of this postdoctoral project, there is no expectation that applicants will have familiarity with the legal, regulatory, or governance aspects of Artificial Intelligence (Quantum or not): indeed fresh perspectives and deep dives often require the insights of outsiders.

The position includes research and a teaching obligation according to the Dean’s instructions for Faculty staff.

Applicants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the faculty's research areas and education programmes by visiting the Faculty’s website: www.jura.ku.dk.

Required qualifications
The position requires academic qualifications PhD, JSD or equivalent degree in law, economics or social science. All applicants are expected to be able to use English as the working language (written and spoken). Successful candidates will demonstrate a clear potential to deliver high quality peer-reviewed research publications.  

In the overall assessment, emphasis will be placed on the applicant’s research and teaching potential. Special emphasis will be placed on the applicant’s ambition to develop and implement new research ideas, which may have an international impact. Furthermore, the Faculty places emphasis on the applicant’s interest and, preferably, prior experience in working with other researchers to conduct collective research and teaching activities and welcomes the applicant’s proven ability to make a valuable contribution in this regard.

Read more about the qualification requirements for assistant professors in the ministerial order on the job structure for academic staff at universities 2019 here.

Salary and terms of employment
The appointment is temporary and will be made in accordance with the agreement between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademikernes Centralorganisation, AC). In addition to the basic salary, you will receive an annual supplement per month and a total contribution to your pension fund equal 17,1 % of your salary and annual supplement is paid. It is possible to negotiate further salary supplements. A special tax scheme is offered to researchers recruited abroad, read more at this homepage: https://ism.ku.dk/salary-tax-pension/tax/

If you consider applying from abroad, you may find useful information on how it is to work in Denmark and at UCPH. Find more information here: https://www.nyidanmark.dk/en-GB and https://ism.ku.dk

Application
Letter of motivation, appendices and the submitted research publications (including papers, articles and books), must be written in English. The application will be rejected if not all the required documents are submitted.

It is essential that you fill out all the mandatory boxes in the electronic application form, even though the information is already stated in your CV, application, publication or other material you may find relevant to upload. The completed boxes will be screened during the shortlisting and assessment process and in order to generate your final assessment, which we will send to you after the assessment work is finalized.

The application MUST include the following nine (9) elements:

1. Letter of motivation (a one-page document explaining the reasons for applying)
2. Curriculum vitae
3. Research project/synopsis. Applications should include a proposal for a research project to be completed during the post-doctoral period. Proposals should be no more than four pages long. The proposal should demonstrate the capacity to develop a postdoctoral project, identifying the relevant methodological tools to achieve the outlined project. Also see description above.
4. Diplomas, PhD or JSD diploma or alternatively a document showing that the applicant has submitted or will submit a dissertation  
5. Publication list. Complete, numbered list of publications.
6. Teaching portfolio, including documentation of teaching qualifications as well as a brief statement of the applicant's teaching visions within the research area. For more information regarding the teaching portfolio.
7. Academic references, if available (please upload under “other relevant material”)
8. A maximum of five (5) scientific publications that the applicant wishes to have included in the assessment, of which no more than one (1) may be a monograph. Applicants, who have written a PhD or JSD thesis or equivalent, must always submit the complete thesis (if the thesis is written in Danish, English, Swedish or Norwegian) and the written assessment of the thesis as a part of submitted publications.
9. If citing work where the applicant has been a co-author, a co-author declaration, which addresses the applicant's share of these works, must be submitted. Material that has not yet been published can be submitted. However, please indicate if this is the case.

In addition to the material which the applicant wishes to be considered in the assessment, the Assessment Committee may require further material to assess the applicant. It is the applicant’s responsibility to provide such supplementary material, should this be requested.

Application procedure
Upload letter of motivation, appendices and the research publications electronically using the link below. We advise you to have the above-mentioned documents ready before you start filling in your online application, and it is essential that all required documents are attached.

Applications must be addressed to the Associate Dean of Research and uploaded electronically.

An automatically generated message is sent out acknowledging receipt of the uploaded application.

Applicants will be kept informed about the process of the application procedure on a regular basis via email.

Following the application deadline, the Associate Dean of Research selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Appointments Committee. Applicants are selected on the basis of an overall assessment of the applicants that best match the recruitment needs of the Faculty as described in this advertisement for the post. This is compared with the applicant's research and teaching profile as set out in the application, CV incl. list of publication, teaching portfolio and any research/development plan.  All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment by an expert Assessment Committee. Selected applicants are notified of the composition of the committee and when the committee has completed its assessment, each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicants themselves.

University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the surrounding society and therefore encourages all interested parties regardless of personal background to apply for the position.

Questions about project is available from Associate Professor Hin-Yan Liu, hin-yan.liu@jur.ku.dk.

Further information about the recruitment process is available from HR South and City Campuses HR, e-mail: hrsc@hrsc.ku.dk. Please refer to ID number 211-1265/22-2I.

The application deadline is 29 March 2023, 23:59 GMT+1.

Applications received after the deadline has expired will not be accepted.

If your application does not include all the required supporting documents your application can be rejected and not be considered by the assessment committee.

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The Faculty of Law is one of six faculties at the University of Copenhagen. The Faculty carries out research, education and knowledge dissemination within the area of law. Research is partly organized in research centres and groups with focus on thematic areas of interest. The Faculty employs about 110 full time researchers and approx. 60 PhD students as well as approx. 75 administrative staff members. In addition, approx. 400 part-time lecturers teach on the legal programmes on which approx. 4,500 students are enrolled. See the Faculty website: https://jura.ku.dk/english for more information.